Tata CLiQ to launch e-wallet in 4-5 months

Tata Group owned e-commerce marketplace Tata CliQ will launch an e-wallet exclusively for use in the marketplace in the next 4-5 months and eventually foray into selling services such as financial services.

It also plans to double the present 60 brands who have set up their omni-channel presence on the platform in one year. These are part of the plans to become the country’s largest omni-channel platform for which it will continue the investment mode while targeting to break even in 3-4 years, said Ashutosh Pandey, CEO at Tata UniStore, which owns and operates the website.

“We are currently in a growth phase and focus is on building brand, omni-channel relationships and traffic. A total of 800 plus brands across electronics, fashion, shoes, watches, kids and luxury sell through the marketplace. E-wallets too will be launched since they account for almost 20% of online payments. Our wallet will, however, be used only to enable customers to pay on our site and get refunds, though we could look at extending it to our omnichannel partners in future,” said Pandey. Tata CliQ will soon launch newer categories like jewellery, home furnishing and furniture. However, FMCG is not in the pipeline as yet, said Pandey. Tata CliQ went live in late May 2016.

Pandey said the just-completed festive season was significantly above expectations, with overall sales and traffic during the period growing by 25 times and 15 times respectively than the usual sales, which will also reflect in the financial performance for the current fiscal.

“Our focus isn’t on just selling low-value products like unbranded pen drives and power banks to increase volumes. Instead, our focus was on experience-led large ticket items like 50-inch plus televisions, AC, luxury products. It will remain so in future as well so that customers have a differentiated experience while buying on our site,” he said.